Mike Pence on Rush Limbaugh's impact: 'America lost a giant today'

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Mike Pence on Rush Limbaugh's impact: 'America lost a giant today'

Former vice president joins 'The Ingraham Angle' to reflect on the life, legacy of the conservative radio icon.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," February 17, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham, and this is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE. From a mournful, but a grateful Washington tonight. Well, we're mournful because we lost a giant today, a great and unparalleled radio icon, of course, Rush Limbaugh. But we're also grateful for having heard his voice and wisdom for as long as we did. 

Now, I know a lot of you heard a lot about Rush today. Of course, the conservative media pioneer, the fearsome defender of freedom and patriotism. But speaking as his friend, what I think I'll remember, first and foremost about Rush is his uproarious sense of humor and his kid like obsession with all thing's technology, especially Apple products and his ability to make time for those of us who just looked up to him, for who he was as a person. 

So, I'm going to have a lot more to say about my friend throughout the hour. But I want to begin tonight with my colleague, Sean Hannity. Sean, I think both you and I and I watched your whole show tonight and I cried. I think I had to do my makeup over a couple of times because I started crying, watching it. 

But I think the two of us knew Rush longer than most because he was an inspiration to both of our careers and talk radio and beyond. But I know you have so many funny stories about Rush, and I know he would want us to laugh as we remembered his family tonight, Catherine and David and everyone, but also as we remembered him. So, give us a funny story.

HANNITY: You know, it's a - there was this side of him and I don't know if I captured it as well as I wanted to tonight, Laura. You always wish you said this, this, and this, when you talk about somebody that you love and admire so much. And he had this mischievous side of him. I mean, the fact that he'd say talent on loan from God and liberals would melt like snowflakes now that we use that term. I mean, he just got a kick out of it, half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair. And he's got his tongue gently placed in his cheek. And people are reacting to it with fire and fury and anger and rage, and the audience is in on the joke. They understood it. 

I just told the story. This was like the worst moment of my life, when the first time I filled in for him on his show, which was a big help for me and my career, I just come up to work at Fox. I did a late-night radio show that afternoon drive, came on right after him. And it was a pretty intimidating experience because, all right, 21 million listeners, 600 stations. I start the opening monologue and as you know, the microphone is golden. It was a golden EIB microphone. And I'm in the middle of the opening monologue and I'm just beginning to slightly feel comfortable, boom, a thud, it just dropped. 

And I'm like, so I'm like down here on my desk talking into the microphone. Now, I'm sweating profusely. Thank God it wasn't TV, right? Having a panic attack. And then he comes back, and somebody had told him about it. And the first thing he says is Sean Hannity dented the Golden EIB mic, and he loved it. 

I'll tell you one of the funny story. So, when I first started here at Fox and when I went on the air in 1996, in October, I would do late night radio, which I really loved. And then a year later I was in afternoon drive, but I kind of loved it and it was fun. But my station was - my studio was adjacent to his. 

INGRAHAM: I remember. 

HANNITY: And you've been there many times. 

INGRAHAM: Yes. 

HANNITY: And his calling board lit up all night long. So, in other words, like for fun, we started doing it like off the air and people did say, you're on the EIB Network and they start - mega dittos Rush. And then one night, I don't know, that side of me came out and I actually did like a whole hour on the air of me trying to be Rush. As you're on the Rush Limbaugh Show, I can't do very good--

INGRAHAM: I'm a giant fuzzball. I'm just a giant fuzzball.

HANNITY: Giant lovable fuzzball. And Kit Carson, the next day, he was - all his team great protectors of Rush. And the next day he goes, really, he kind of gave me a stern pushback, not in a bad way. He's a wonderful person, too. And we miss him. And Rush then heard about it. And I told him about it, and I said, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. And he goes, oh, that's brilliant. I wish I would have done that. 

So, it showed a side of him that was just lighthearted, charming, loving. If we're going to fight for liberty and freedom, it's sort of like Hank Williams. We celebrate freedom and fun. Americans are fun. Americans tailgate. Americans like football. They like baseball. You know, we're often entangled in this political world all the time. 

INGRAHAM: You know what he said to me? 

HANNITY: Yes. 

INGRAHAM: One of the last times, I talked to him. He said, Ingraham, don't forget the pursuit of happiness is part of this whole deal. Yes, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and this pursuit of - so everyone wants to say it's over for America. It's done. We're finished. Biden is president - he never saw it that way. America is a continuing experience that has to be fought for and loved. It has to be - you have to have a love affair with America to save America. 

And he had a love affair with his listeners, his family, of course. But America. And that is the man that I think everybody has to remember. And if you never heard his show, oh, you just have to go online and listen to everything you had on YouTube. 

HANNITY: You have to. 

INGRAHAM: You have to do it.

HANNITY: You have to do it. 

INGRAHAM: Because he was so darn funny, too. I'm telling you; I just want to tell Rush jokes for the rest of the hour because there's so many things.

HANNITY: There really is so many things. You know what's amazing though too, and I don't think we can highlight this enough. We know this because we're in this business. If people don't listen to our radio shows, if they don't watch this show, we don't work. I mean, that's just the bottom. 

But I mentioned earlier, I talked about the movie The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It's a great movie. And I've talked to people and I've had conversations that go on a whole dinner about what you're on your bucket list. What would you like to do if, you know, like--

INGRAHAM: He was doing it; he was living it. He was living his bucket list. He was living it. 

HANNITY: But think about that. He would go through the harshest of treatments they have, kill you to save you when you have advanced Stage 4 lung cancer. And I knew he wasn't feeling well every day, but he would find the strength because his bucket list was to be on the air, to do what he was born to do. It wasn't to go travel to here or there or see a mountain or climb Mt. Everest. No, his bucket list was to get back to the audience he loved.

INGRAHAM: Yes. 

HANNITY: That's amazing. 

INGRAHAM: Yes, Sean, living the dream and he obviously - living the dream, and this is what I want to do. 

HANNITY: I don't know - you or Rush, you both have that same quality? I don't know. 

INGRAHAM: That's why we got along. It's like one up. I'm going to one up you. I'm going to one up you. But he loved you, Sean. And great show. 

HANNITY: He loved you too. 

INGRAHAM: I enjoyed every minute of your show tonight. 

HANNITY: Thanks. We'll miss him. 

INGRAHAM: Thank you. We will miss him. 

HANNITY: He's in paradise. I have no doubt. Thank you. 

INGRAHAM: You bet. And I'm going to have a lot more to say about Rush, including a conversation with former Vice President Mike Pence, who joins us tonight, himself, a veteran of talk radio. But now Democrats hate normal, Rush would love this. That's the focus of tonight's ANGLE. 

Now, if you thought that because of vaccines and acquired immunity, you'd be free from masks and COVID controls by, let's say, spring or maybe early summer. Well, you got another thing coming. Last night, Joe Biden made sure to dash those hopes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By next Christmas. I think we'll be in a very different circumstance, God willing, than we are today. A year from now. I think that there'll be significantly fewer people having to be socially distanced, have to wear masks. I don't want to overpromise anything here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Don't worry, you're never going to do that. Then his press secretary did her usual daily Biden cleanup. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are not in a place where we can predict exactly when everybody will feel normal again, but we don't know at this point what that timeline is going to look like. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: I'll circle back. In other words, we're never getting back to normal under Biden, get that? Now, this should surprise no one, because we've been telling you this many, many times that the Democrats, the media, the medical cartel, they're all working together to keep you scared, compliant and frankly distracted. How else are they supposed to keep you focusing away from their disastrous policies? 

The medical media establishment has played this cute hide the ball game, that's what we call it, since this whole virus started spreading in the country. Always keeping you guessing about when you can have your lives back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: Right now, at this moment, there is no need to change anything that you're doing on a day-by-day basis. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want people to focus on what we need to do in these next two weeks to really flatten the curve. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think things are going to be permanently changed coming out of this until we get to a vaccine and we can fully vanquish this. 

FAUCI: I think we're going to be wearing masks for several, several months. We've got to continue until we get it so low that it's no longer a threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: There's a new term, several, several months. Two weeks to flatten the curve, turns into two years to flatten the economy. And if they have their way, the Constitution. Now, this is why THE ANGLE has been demanding objective metrics since last April. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: We just cannot have our people deny the ability to make a living, go to school, attend worship services, travel as they wish, see their friends, we need realistic, objective metrics. We need clear protocols to give people peace of mind once we do restart our economy and reopen again. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: I can't believe we've been doing this since last April. I mean, objective metrics, but what we heard from the CDC, Fauci and Birx was always vague and it was always changing. But of course, nebulous metrics are really just non-existent metrics. The evidence from states like South Dakota and Florida is clear. Lockdowns don't work. They just destroy small businesses, create massive unemployment, and increase anxiety and depression. Just for what they've done to education, that should be reason enough to fire every one of the blue state governors who shuttered our schools. But Joe Biden says he wants kids in school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: But I'm talking about, as I said, opening the majority of schools in K through 8 grades because they're the easiest to open, the most needed to be open in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay home.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Two words, not convincing, especially given what we saw the next morning when the Today Show pressed Vice President Harris on a simple question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of us who have children in our lives, they want to go back to school. We want them to go back to school. Teachers want to teach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about that CDC guidance then? That's the question, because the CDC is saying essentially their best guidance is don't open if you're in a red zone, 90 percent of students are in a red zone. And the science is very clear. The CDC's own science says schools are not a source of community risk,

HARRIS: But the CDC, what they have recommended are exactly that recommendation. And so, the recommendations include what again needs to happen around social distancing, handwashing, mask wearing. But the point is that we all want our kids to get back to school as quickly as possible and as safely as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Is anyone else terrified by that answer. I'll translate it for you. If you're a parent in a Democrat run state, do not expect regular in- person schooling for your children next fall. The unions are holding out for the full ransom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

FAUCI: I think that the schools really do need more resources, and that's the reason why the National Relief Act that we're talking about getting passed, we need that. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This costs money. And that's why the passage of the American rescue plan, $130 billion for schools is so important to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Now, if I was a betting woman and I'm not, I'd bet that Democrat House candidates are going to be campaigning in masks in 2022, if they end up campaigning at all. The CDC and Fauci will always have another virus variant to hype, another holiday to warn us away from celebrating, another alleged super spreader event. This will all be the perfect setup for Democrats to press for universal mail-in-ballots for the midterms. You know, it's coming. 

Now, once again, Fauci is going to insist that even with the vaccine voting in-person, well, it's just too unpredictable. It can be safe, but it also can be dangerous. Total bull. I'd also bet that they try to prevent political rallies of any kind from happening, especially if Trump or his supporters are involved, if the virus excuse by itself wears thin. Well, the Biden White House will cite other emergencies, such as the threat of domestic terror, or climate change or systemic racism to justify curtailing our civil liberties. 

Now, to all of this nonsense, we must respond with an unequivocal hell no. We're moving on with our lives. We're going to church. We're going to school. We're going to the movies. We're going to concerts, weddings, graduations, funerals, wherever the damn well hell we please. We're going to vote with their feet if we have to. And when we do, the blue states will simply be left further behind. And that's THE ANGLE. 

Joining me now is one of the first elected officials to stand up to the lies and to all the goalpost shifting of the medical cartel. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Governor, I remember early on there were a few governors, Brian Kemp, you, Kristi Noem, a few others were just trashed by a lot of the people that we just showed in those clips for your dangerous approach to this dangerous pandemic. A year later almost, what do you see?

RON DESANTIS (R) FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Well, Laura, in Florida, in terms of Coronavirus, we have less Coronavirus per capita in terms of deaths than the national average and we have the second oldest population in the United States. We have less cases per capita than the national average. And yet we have all schools open. We have all businesses able to operate. Everyone has a right to work. Our unemployment is below the national average. Our tax revenue is much higher than expectations. 

And so, I think what we've learned is two things. One, when you deal with a pandemic, it doesn't mean that every other issue in society simply goes away. You have to deal with folks' ability to earn a living, to educate their kids and mental health and well-being. But what we've also learned is these lockdowns on their own just don't work. Even if you didn't care about economy, even if you didn't care about education, they don't work to stop the spread. And I think the results in Florida and elsewhere show that. People want to come here because they know we're a free state. And I think that the facts have borne us out to have made the right decisions.

INGRAHAM: I want to move on to what happened in Manatee County, where I think you offered 3000 vaccines to mostly, I believe it was mostly to the senior community. But for that, your critics lashed out at you. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

MISTY SERVIA, MANATEE COUNTY COMMISSIONER: The optics are really, really bad. If we were going to pick and choose who was going to be vaccinated ahead of everyone else, I would hope it would go to the underserved populations. You're taking the whitest demographic, the richest demographic in Manatee County and putting them ahead of everyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Governor, it's racist to follow the science and vaccinate the most vulnerable population. I don't understand this. Now we're checking boxes of ethnicity and color. I thought it was about the science, saving lives.

DESANTIS: Well, look, we were the first state to reject the CDC guidance which wasn't going to put seniors first. And we said, no, no, we're putting seniors first. I was criticized by the same types of folks for putting seniors first. Well, guess what? Florida seniors are glad that we put them first. 

Today's event where we have the 3000 seniors that was over and above what that county had been getting. We saw that there was - that we needed to get more seniors in that particular county. So, we work with some of the local neighborhoods and said, where there's a lot of seniors, where can we go in and knock out several thousand very quickly to get those numbers up? 

And I can tell you, Laura, there were an awful lot of very happy seniors there today. There are a lot of smiles on their faces. People were able to get vaccines. This is one of many things that we're doing to put seniors first in Florida. We're not going to stop until every senior that wants a shot, gets a shot. And we're not going to let some of the naysayers slow us down.

INGRAHAM: Governor DeSantis, breaking news tonight. The FBI, U.S. attorney's office also are reportedly investigating Governor Cuomo, his handling of nursing homes, and it's apparently in its very early stages. But your thoughts on that, given what you saw in New York and again, criticism you got, and the praise Cuomo got from the likes of Dr. Fauci?

DESANTIS: Well, if you go back to March, I was getting criticized for not closing the beaches, which you don't close beaches for a respiratory virus, so I was right on that. But the media totally ignored how the governors were handling the nursing homes. We did in order right at the beginning, saying hospitals cannot discharge COVID positive nursing home residents back to nursing homes. By doing that, we saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. And so, we made the right decision at the outset. And again, the facts have borne us out over these many months.

INGRAHAM: And Governor, finally, I know you're very close to Rush Limbaugh. He praised you in his final show. I know how much he admired you and he had great hopes for your political future. Your thoughts tonight?

DESANTIS: He's the Babe Ruth of radio, he would have been great in radio, Laura, even without the conservatism, he was just that talented. Obviously, he's a conservative icon up there with people like Scalia and Reagan and Buckley. And he was a personal friend. You know him. He's a warm and decent man. And we're really proud that he was in the Southern Command down in Florida for so long. We're going to miss him tremendously. He was a great guy.

INGRAHAM: He was ahead of the curve and leaving New York City and coming to Florida, I remember he told me, what was that 20 years ago? Ingraham, why are you paying the taxes in D.C., move to Florida. I'm like, who wants to go to Florida? Now, he's proven once again how smart he was.

DESANTIS: Just think Laura though, just think of how many tens of millions of dollars he saved over his 23 years in the state of Florida. And so, it was the right decision, and we were so glad to have him. He was great for the community down there and people loved him.

INGRAHAM: All right, Governor, thank you so much tonight and for those thoughts. And in moments I promised I would share my personal reflection on Rush Limbaugh. And then former Vice President Mike Pence will join me on how Rush shaped his life. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

INGRAHAM: I'm going to try to get through this without crying. There are no words to adequately capture the man that was Rush Limbaugh. Even though we knew that this day was coming. This morning, I was in my car and I heard that he had passed, and I was trying to write something right away while it was fresh in my mind, I was typing the word was in reference to Rush, and it seems so wrong. It seemed like an impossibility. Because millions of us have relied on his wisdom and his perspective for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I want everyone in this room and every one of you around the country to succeed. I want anyone who believes in life, liberty, pursuit of happiness to succeed. And I want any force, any person, any element of an overarching big government that would stop your success, I want that organization, that element or that person to fail. Our beliefs are not the result of calculations and contrivances. Our beliefs are not the result of a deranged psychology. Our beliefs are our core, our beliefs are our hearts.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: His unbridled talent, his showmanship, his unwavering patriotism, his uproarious sense of humor and his boundless enthusiasm for his craft, his endless love for his listening audience, his defiant perseverance, even in the face of cancer, gave us comfort. And you bet it gave us inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

LIMBAUGH: I think I just happened to be saying what a whole lot of people think but don't have a chance to say themselves. That's why they call me the most dangerous man in America. Somebody is finally saying the stuff, you believe that the most dangerous man. No, I'm a harmless fuzzball.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Now, through the good times and the bad through the victories and the defeat, he was a touchstone for conservatives, young and old. There was Reagan, there was Rush, there was Scalia, Justice Thomas, Buckley. The first time I met him in 1995. I think it was it was at his WABC radio office and I was part of a group of Republican women. 

Now, I decided to sit back and just listen as the other folks spoke and then about 15 minutes or so went by and he looked at me and he said, don't you have anything to add? And my response was, yes, Rush. I think if you stick to it, you could really make it in this radio thing. Well, we were friends ever since. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: Special guest line 2, who the heck is this? 

LIMBAUGH: Is this Laura Ingraham?

INGRAHAM: Oh, Rush. How are you?

LIMBAUGH: It's Laura Ingraham? This has been like a Russian fire drill getting hold of you. Everybody wants to talk to you. And I finally found a way to work my way in there.

INGRAHAM: Oh, well, how are you? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have done this for 17.5 years. You're the reason I'm doing it.

LIMBAUGH: I'm doing great. I'm happy that you're moving on. I know you're doing what you want to do and what you're great at and so forth. But I just want you to know that everybody on radio is going to miss you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: I hadn't heard that since the first - since my last show. He was unfailingly generous with his time and yet we all wanted more time with him. He is a native son of Missouri, and he never forgot where he came from.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

LIMBAUGH: My family is singularly responsible for me being here today. There is something too, Midwestern cultural values.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

INGRAHAM: In a sense, he was the original deplorable. He was a force of nature ridiculed by the elites in Washington and also, of course, all of them on the Acela corridor up to New York. But he was loved by the people who make America work with his intellect and his insight with good cheer and determination, Rush paved the way for the rest of us who hope to somehow follow in his footsteps. Of course, that we tried, but there was only one Rush Limbaugh that was ridiculous, even to try. But when talk radio was written off, Rush saved it. And when the Republican Party lost its way, Rush helped to get back on track. 

In 1992, when Bill Clinton defeated Bush, Republicans were divided and forlorn, and as Mary Matalin put it, we all had to hold us together. We had all we had was Rush Limbaugh. When old establishment Republicans rejected Donald Trump, Rush dug in to support him and the America First agenda. He realized that the conservative movement had to shake off globalism and open borders in order to attract working-class voters. It's hard to see how Trump would've won in 2016 without Rush Limbaugh's support. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The drive-bys are going to pooh-pooh it. They are going to relegate it to the carnival characteristics of a campaign, but it is going to resonate. When's the last time we beat China? They kill us. When's the last time we beat Japan at anything? You know what a lot of people's reaction that's going to be. But why should we be beating anybody? Why can't we cooperate? These are people that are ignorant, have no idea that what Trump says here is actually true. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: From that famous guitar lick at the top of every hour, from the Pretenders, to his final sendoff, America was blessed to have Rush's talent on loan from God for as long as we did. But sadly, for those of us who will sorely miss his friendship and his reassuring voice, the loan was finally called in. 

Joining is now on the phone, former Vice President Mike Pence. Vice President Pence, thank you for being here. 

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Laura.

INGRAHAM: In your talk radio days you described yourself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf. 

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Your thoughts on his legacy tonight? 

PENCE: Well, first, thank you for that beautiful tribute, and thank you for allowing me to be on the air to express Karen and my deepest condolences, but also, as you said, our profound gratitude for the life, the example, the courage, and the matchless voice of Rush Limbaugh. America lost a giant today. And like you, and like millions of Americans, I learned about it in the car, and I was genuinely saddened and our hearts immediately went to Kathryn, his brother David, but also to millions of Americans who, like us, just grew accustomed to every day, noon eastern, a breath of common sense conservative fresh air every day. 

And he made conservatives proud, like you said, in some of the dark days of defeat. You'd turn on the radio, and Rush Limbaugh gave conservatives courage to fight on. And we will miss his voice, but when I hear your voice, and the great tribute from Sean, and all the outpouring of support today, I'm reminded that Rush Limbaugh inspired a generation of conservatives across the country from the grassroots to the airwaves just like you. And I know that the fight goes on and the victories lie ahead. And when they come, it will be part of the legacy of Rush Limbaugh. 

INGRAHAM: And Vice President Pence, it's hard to think of another election, the next election without him. I call him a touchstone. He was a touchstone. He was just a relentless force. If you would, talk with us about your own personal interaction with him. I know how much he liked you personally and respected you personally, especially everything you sacrificed for the country over the last four years, reflect on that for a moment. 

PENCE: People wouldn't know this about me. So Rush Limbaugh came of age in about 1989, and it was literally at a time -- you had an incredible career in radio, but in the 80s, literally, 8:00 a.m. radio was dying. And Rush Limbaugh stepped in as a force of nature and he transformed and invented conservative talk radio. 

In the early 1990s, I was drawn into that medium, and really just as a fan of Rush Limbaugh. I had my own talk show radio show across of the state of Indiana for much of the 1990s. And as you said, I would describe myself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf. And so we started out as fans, we would go on as following him into talk radio. But during my years in the House of Representatives fighting alongside house conservatives, my years as governor, my years serving alongside President Trump as vice president of the United States, Rush Limbaugh was an inspiration. He was an anchor of conservatism. And in every real sense, I can say to you with deep humility, I would not have had the opportunities that I had from radio to the Congress to the governorship to serving as vice president but for the life and the voice and the example of Rush Limbaugh. And I will always be grateful. 

INGRAHAM: And he wasn't afraid to go where other conservatives might be afraid to go. This is from a 1993 interview Rush did, Vice President Pence, with 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say something lovable and modest. Just please say something modest. 

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I have for about an hour. 

(LAUGHTER)

LIMBAUGH: Something I'm honest about, why my show is a success? I can credit the good taste and refinement of the American people. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, what do you think it was about Rush that made his show so widely successful? He had a sense of fun. And I keep telling conservatives who are all down in the mouth, Vice President Pence, get that sense of fun back. We live in a great country. You can't give it up every time you lose an election. You can't lash out every time you lose an election. You have to move on. Rush told me that one of the last times I spoke to him, fight on, my friend, fight on. And I think we all take that. 

PENCE: Laura, you couldn't be more right. Rush Limbaugh not only made conservatives proud, he made conservatism fun. I've sometimes told people I'm a conservative, but I'm not in a bad mood about it. I gleaned that attitude from years listening to Rush Limbaugh and having my own radio broadcast. And I have to tell you, it was -- he would educate, he would inform, he would inspire, but he was just flat entertaining. 

INGRAHAM: He was fun. he was a showman. And politics, Vice President Pence, is in part showmanship. Reagan understood that. Obviously Donald Trump understands it. You are not going to cut them up at the comedy club yourself, Vice President Pence, but you do understand it -- I'm sorry you do understand it, right? You've got to be a bit of a showman in politics and in the media. 

PENCE: And you know what you also have -- and you prove this with an incredible career in radio, but radio, you have to show heart. And I actually think that -- he had an immense intellect, a capacity to articulate conservative ideals and American principles like very few Americans of our time, but he also had heart. When you listen to somebody every day, as millions of Americans have done for more than 30 years, you get to know them for who they are. And this was a genuinely good man, who he had a heart for our country. He loved the American people. 

And I think that spirit of fun was all reflected in a sense you had listening to him that he loved the people he was talking to. He believed in the boundless potential of every American. And I really do believe that the best days for America are yet to come. And when they come, we are going to build that boundless future on a foundation that Rush Limbaugh helped to pour. There will never be another Rush Limbaugh, but voices like yours, like Sean Hannity, like voices that have been inspired all across the country, and men and women who have followed a calling into public service and served at the local and state and the federal level I think are all a part of that legacy that will continue to strengthen and build our country up. 

INGRAHAM: I don't think people do appreciate that. And someone who listened to his show all the time, even when I hosted my own show, when he would engage with a young person, it's easy to blow off some -- I've been for three years, I'm 17. He spent the most time speaking to those young people who were hearing about conservatism for the first time, and he was very patient, and he brought them along, or the business owner, or a Hispanic listener from San Antonio who just happened to catch him and said, I disagree with you, Rush. He would take the time to debate and disagree or bring someone along. And that patience, I had to learn that the hard way because I don't have a lot of patients, but I know that will a shock you, Vice President Pence. But he taught me that. And I think that's --

PENCE: But Rush Limbaugh, he also -- you know the key to being a great talk show host, because you are one. You've got to listen. And Rush Limbaugh listened to his callers and responded to them respectfully. And I think that's how he literally won hearts and minds all across the country for more than 30 years. 

INGRAHAM: Do you think, Vice President Pence, that you and Donald Trump would have won in 2016 were it not for Rush on the radio and the -- 

PENCE: I think President Trump would be the first to say, and me right after him, that our campaign in 2016 and our administration every single day had no greater ally than Rush Limbaugh. Everything that we did to rebuild our military, revive the economy, see more than 200 conservatives appointed to our courts at every level, have an America first foreign policy, all of what President Trump brought to the White House was sustained by a chorus of conservatives across the country, by partners alongside in the House and in the Senate.

But I want to say again, our administration had no greater ally than Rush Limbaugh. And America will miss his voice, and we will miss our friend. 

INGRAHAM: Vice President Pence, thank you for all the time you gave us tonight. Come back soon. We'll talk politics of the day, but thank you so much, we really appreciate it. 

It's time now for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we expose the cultures stories of the day. For that we turn to author of the forthcoming "The Thief Who Stole Heaven," FOX News contributor Raymond Arroyo. Raymond, you have been tracking reactions to Rush's passing today, and what I read and saw, a lot of it was so beautiful, and some of it was ghoulish, uncivil, et cetera. 

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. And look, on Ash Wednesday, Laura, when we should be pondering morality, my reaction was a lot of this ink that was spilled, what people were saying, it was, frankly, wicked. Agree or disagree with Rush Limbaugh, he was a broadcast pioneer. He created this industry. And for tens of millions of listeners each week, he was a friend. Yet this is how some in the media remembered him today. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were times when he was crass, ugly, indecent, that's absolutely true. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Promoting his allies while insulting his political enemies and average people alike, many times in deeply offensive way spread. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rush Limbaugh reached millions of listeners via his golden microphone, hardening rural white listeners and weaponizing white male grievance.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

ARROYO: It's amazing, Laura. I think when people engage in this kind of vitriol, they are projecting themselves onto someone else. Anyone who encountered Rush Limbaugh, I did not know him well, but I met him a few times, certainly not as many as you. I found him shy, retiring. The one time Rebecca and I met him at a Christmas party, he was all alone in the blue room, he and Kathryn. They asked us to take a picture, then they took our picture, we talked for a little bit. He was humble, and almost shy. A very different man from that voice and what you imagined behind the microphone. 

But I want to contrast those remembrances of Rush Limbaugh with the way a pornographer, "Hustler" founder Larry Flynt, was hailed by some of these same people when he died last week. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He really did change the way people thought about the First Amendment. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's absolutely true. It's interesting, he opposed the death penalty. He favored same sex marriage. He spoke out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Politically he was very progressive. He was not what you might think that Larry Flynt was -- 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: It's amazing. It is amazing, a man who degraded women, broke -- 

INGRAHAM: I don't even want to talk about that. I don't want to talk about Larry Flynt. It's just disgusting. 

ARROYO: I know, but I'm using it as a contrast, Laura, because I think it's important to show the media fixation on ideology. And they missed the intimacy that Americans found with Rush Limbaugh, a voice of reason in the darkness for them. Do you remember the Rush Limbaugh rooms, they had these lunch spots at noon, all the businessmen would gather in Washington? The Limbaugh rooms. And people forget not only what a phenomena he was, but the phenomena he continued and evolved into being. And it's a great loss, a great loss to all broadcasters. And I hope he'll get his due.

INGRAHAM: Raymond, the great thing about Rush is that he was generous, but he had an exterior that people thought he's too shy, because he was shy. He said he had a PhD in social distancing before there was social distancing. 

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: I had dinner with him once, and he's like oh, I never get to see you, let's order a bottle of wine. I said that's nice, but I don't drink much. I think he ordered some crazy bottle of wine, then he gave the server, I believe if my memory serves me correct, he gave the server a $2,000 tip. I have never told that publicly before, OK. I wish I knew who it was because they could call in.

And I said Rush, that's so nice. He said, you know something, waiting tables, especially with people like us, it's one of the hardest jobs out there. She deserves double. He was just great. I sound like a total suck up tonight, and I know he really, really loved your sense of humor, Raymond, because he had a devilish sense of humor as well. 

ARROYO: He did have a great sense of humor. He was our Will Rogers in many ways, our era's Will Rogers. People were attached to him, and he helped them through difficult times. 

INGRAHAM: He loved America first and foremost. Raymond, thank you so much.

And President Trump has zero access now to social media due to the monopolistic silencing, yet Chinese propaganda is allowed to flourish. So what does anyone care about this? J.D. Vance has some interesting thoughts next. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Rush Limbaugh reshaped the public square by forging a path for conservative media. But now that square is being increasingly squeezed by tech oligarchs. You'd think the classical left would be upset about corporate monopolies, they used to be, but they aren't. So why is that? Of course, while former President Trump is banned from platforms like Facebook and Twitter, big tech hasn't lifted a finger to prevent the CCP from spreading anti-American lies. 

Someone who has thought a lot about this is J.D. Vance, author of "Hillbilly Elegy," and he joins me now. J.D., why do you think the modern left is suddenly OK with the concentration of power in a few corporate entities? 

J.D. VANCE, AUTHOR, "HILLBILLY ELEGY": I think unfortunately it's just very cynical. They realize that the big tech oligarchs are actually on their side, and where they used to complain about corporate power, now they recognize that corporate power is being used against their enemies, in this case President Donald Trump and his voters. And so I think they're more than willing to cozy up to those people if it gives them more power, which it does is this case, because those companies really control the public square in this country. 

INGRAHAM: One thing that also is kind of shocking, and I'd like your opinion on it, is last night when Joe Biden essentially just blows off the difference between the United States and China by saying, well, there are cultural norms that are different with the way they treat the Uighurs and the way that -- I loved how he said, well, President Xi just things unity of thought is important. I'm like, what? What happened to liberals standing up for liberal rights? Divestment in South Africa, that was a big issue for liberals in the United States, and they made a big difference there. What happened? 

VANCE: First of all, I wish they were so deferential to our own founding fathers who, of course, they parse every single one of their words and hold everything against them, but of course was just super deferential to Xi.

I think at a fundamental level what's going on right now is that big corporations in America are increasingly more invested in the Chinese government than they are in their own country. And what that means for us as conservatives is we've actually got to do something about this. I think we've gotten so used to big business, to corporations being on the side of the right, because of China, because of the woke left, they're increasingly on the side of the left. And we have to do something about it. We have to recognize that they're not our friends anymore, and that should inform the way that we think about public policy. It's a really big departure, but I think it's an important thing for us to recognize so we can move forward and actually solve these problems and make it possible for people to express themselves and be conservatives without fear of getting fired or censored. 

INGRAHAM: President Reagan understood that you had to isolate the former Soviet Union, peace through strength, and all that, and that kind of went out the window when Wall Street decided they were going to make a lot of big bets, IPOs and otherwise, in China. A lot of folks at "National Review" and the "Journal" and a lot of big conservative outlets, they kind of went with the globalist perspective, and they lost the people. Trump came along and said it doesn't have to be this way, and now he is suddenly shut off Twitter and Facebook. And they are relishing squelching his freedom of speech. 

VANCE: That's exactly right. And of course, it's not just about President Trump. It's also about his voters. If you are a supporter, if you're one of those 75 million people that voted for Trump in 2020, you recognize that the censorship that's directed against him can be and has been directed against you, either through firings, either through shadow banning or Twitter just making it impossible for you to post. And so these things influence and affect the broader public discourse in this country. And I think we just have to recognize, like you said, Wall Street maybe was on the side of America in the 1980s. It's not clear that it's on the side of America in the 2020s, and we have to wake up to that fact. 

INGRAHAM: J.D., great to see you tonight, thank you so much. 

And when we come back, a final story about Rush and me. Tonight's Last Bite, next. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: I wish I had hours to talk about Rush Limbaugh tonight, but I will close with this. His generosity of spirit and his kindness, his concern for his friends, his country, those around him who were suffering including yours truly when I had my own cancer diagnosis, I believe Rush was among the first three or four people who reached out to me aside from my immediate family. 

And he said Ingraham, be glad that you live at a time where we have great medicine and great technology. You're going to get through this. Essentially, what he was saying is suck it up, buttercup, no time for tears. God speed, my friend. Rush Limbaugh. 
 
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